Outworld Mission

14-die again

Jungkook's mind was full of the Kings...

The way he talked,
The way he looked at him,
The way his lips drew that little smile every time Jungkook was caught staring. But the creepiest part-
Was the way he kept remembering how he shoved the spoon into his mouth.

Jungkook-or Geuki-turned sideways, pulling the blanket over his head.

Aishhh!! Jin! Get out of my mind! Let me sleep!

The King smiled when he heard that...

See you tomorrow, Jungwah.

What!? Was that...?

He pulled the blanket off his head.

Of course he told you that when you left the Palace! Are you an idiot, Jungkook? How can he talk to you when he's not here? Go to sleep! Anyway-

Who's Jungkook, Geuki?

He pulled the blanket back over his head before closing his eyes.

Of course! Seokjin heard that... He closed the book he was reading before lying on his bed.

---

"Yun Geuki..."
That deep tone!

Prince Taehyung...
As he walked toward the Palace kitchen, there was the Prince again, waiting for him. It had been a week since Jungkook started working at the Palace, and the Prince was always there, waiting for him. Most of the time, he was hiding and watching him.

"Jungwah!"

He heard it.
Maybe he always heard the King's words, even though the King never mentioned Prince Taehyung's name. But considering that only the King ever called him that...

"Your Highness!"
He bowed respectfully and stopped, keeping his head lowered as the Prince approached.

"Geuki, look at me."
Jungkook hesitated but slowly lifted his head, and the Prince stopped in front of him.

"No reason to stay away from me."
Jungkook thinned his lips, seeing the sorrow in the Prince's eyes and the sadness in his voice.

"Your Highness-"

"Do I deserve to be treated like this?"
As he kept asking, Jungkook couldn't help but stare at him, his heart aching. Of course, he owed his life to the Prince after being saved from those men.

He bowed his head again-

"Isn't it late for you, Servant?"
Suddenly, Prince Jimin appeared in front of him, behind Taehyung.

The Prince had just saved him, and in that moment, Jungkook didn't know how to respond.

"Your Highness, please forgive me-"

"You should be in the kitchen earlier than your call time, Servant. May I remind you, you are serving the King, not just anyone. You must take full accountability."

Prince Jimin spoke calmly, but his words were commanding. Prince Taehyung kept his gaze fixed on Geuki.
Geuki bowed to Jimin and then, deliberately, to Taehyung, ignoring his gaze.

"I'm leaving..." The words were almost whispered. It felt like there was a clog in his lungs when he said it. As Geuki walked away, Taehyung heard his thoughts.

Yeah... You don't deserve this, Prince Taehyung. Please forgive me. But someday, I hope I can repay what you've done for me. For now, please understand that I need to follow the rules in the Palace, or my head will be sent home. My family needs me-my mom and my two younger siblings. I need this job. Most of all...
I am just a servant who follows the rules...

Taehyung exhaled deeply as he turned away.
Jimin watched him. Of course, he had heard those thoughts too.

"This is unfair!"
He said.

"Nothing is fair in this world, Your Highness. I am living proof of it."

He turned to him with obvious anger on his face.

"Why are you doing this?!"

But the way Prince Jimin answered h with questions .
"Why are you after him? Why are you interested in the Servant?"

Taehyung turned away.
"Stop calling him like that! His name is Yun Geuki!"

The Prince walked away, but Jimin's words froze him-

"The King chose him. I just want to let you know that the Palace is preparing a feast for the next Kween."

The Ephipanea rule-The Palace Kween is a male who marries the King.

"The King chose him?"
Prince Taehyung wondered how that had happened when all this time, it had been the Shamans who decided who the next Queen would be, never the King himself.
"How did that happen?"

"Marrying him will bring the King closer to the lowest people of Ephipanea. It will help him understand their true status."

"Does he even know about it?"

Taehyung cared little for what Jimin was saying. He was far more concerned with what Geuki would feel about it. He felt bad for the younger man.

"He will."

Prince Taehyung instantly grabbed Prince Jimin by the collar of his hanbok.

"I won't let that happen! If I have to slay you-
I will!"

Jimin's calm demeanor didn't change, but his eyes... his glare burned with something deeper.
Taehyung could feel the pain hiding in his shattered heart.

You already killed me... long ago, Tae.

Tears ran down Jimin's angelic face. His eyes were full of sorrow. Jimin's voice calling him by his childhood name caused Taehyung's heart to break.

Jimin touched him, letting him glimpse the past he had almost forgotten.

Taehyung slowly released him before stepping back.

You even buried me, way back then. It won't hurt anymore.

The words hit him hard.
Taehyung looked at him wearily.

"Chim... you never gave me the chance to explain-"

That's when Prince Jimin turned his back on him. He paused for a moment, then whispered:

"I gave you more than enough, just as I gave myself to you. You took too many chances for granted and never saw how you broke me.
The Chim you knew was killed by the one he loved most, My Prince..."

Dust of blue and white swirled as Prince Jimin disappeared from his sight.

Taehyung suppressed his tears, but they slipped out slowly.

You never knew what I've been through, Chim...
It's all because of you.

Jimin shook his head before shielding himself, blocking Taehyung from using clairvoyance.

"Lies!" He whispered.
"Lies!!" He screamed.

The Prince cried out loud. For decades, he had hidden it within himself, but now, he couldn't anymore.

The sea heard him, sending waves of sympathy. Rain fell. The Blue and Mystique Moons hid behind dark clouds.

Seokjin looked up at the sky.
He didn't need to hear it. The King knew that it was always Jimin's cries that caused the Moons to hide. His heart broke again for his younger brother from the South.

Namjoon and Yoongi, both standing at the back of the King's Shaman, also knew what was happening. They had seen it long ago...
When Prince Taehyung had left his fiancée on their wedding day for a mission...

That was when both Moons had hidden behind dark clouds, and thunderstormed... like a replay of the past.

The King's Shaman, Jung Hoseok, knew it too.

"Dying again and again makes the weak heart strong, My Prince. Someday, destiny itself will show you the truth that will fix your shattered heart. For now, let it cry in pain. Let it die again until you can no longer feel the pain."